Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Editorial Praises Proposition 99’s Effect on Smoking Rate

"In 1988, voters passed Proposition 99, which increased the tobacco tax," and more than "$1 billion has been spent since then on an aggressive anti-smoking campaign,"a San Jose Mercury News editorial states. The Mercury News writes, "The adult smoking rate went from 22.7% in 1988 to 13.1% today," and California has saved "an astounding $86 billion in health care costs." The editorial concludes, "[I]magine the savings a serious obesity prevention campaign could produce."